


Crossing The River

by DGCatAniSiri



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6072699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DGCatAniSiri/pseuds/DGCatAniSiri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan went searching to find out how Vypra came back. When he goes silent, Carter tries not to worry. When he starts dreaming about Ryan, however...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The destruction of Vypra and Quarganon was, undeniably, a cause for celebration. She’d dragged herself out of the underworld, and then brought forth a creature that could have been stronger than even Diabolico and Olympius. It had taken twelve Power Rangers to defeat them, five of them using powerful upgrades to even their standard powers. Returning to Mariner Bay, and with Kelsey leading the way to one of her favorite hang-outs, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were definitely prepared for a party. Well, Joel and Miss Fairweather (now Miss Fairweather-Rawlings, though she told the Rangers she didn’t mind if they didn’t include her new last name when addressing her, even suggesting that they try to get used to calling her ‘Angela’) were more inclined to get to the matter of their overdue honeymoon, but the others were excited.

All except Ryan.

As Kelsey tried to convince Chad that karaoke was actually a good idea, and as Joel and Miss Fairweather (no one except Joel seemed ready to take her up on the offer) discussed new honeymoon plans, Carter noticed that Ryan had pulled away from the others. Grabbing a second drink, Carter approached the Titanium Ranger.

“Hey, Ryan. It’s a celebration. You’re not supposed to spend all your time hiding in a corner.” He offered the second drink to Ryan.

Looking awkward as he accepted it, Ryan tried to summon a smile. “Sorry. I’m just... Not used to this.” He motioned to the rest of the place. The karaoke bar that Kelsey had dragged them to was filled with flashy lights, the odd dangling disco ball, and the wide and varied assortment of alcoholic beverages on the menu. It was also, apparently, still cleaning up from the previous night’s rowdy bachelorette party, which had seemingly involved all the silly string and confetti in the tri-state area. The owner had been willing to allow the seven-person party pretty much solely on the basis of how those seven people had been responsible in saving Mariner Bay several dozen times over. Carter also figured she expected them to pitch in and help with cleaning the place up when they were done. 

Carter smiled. “I guess karaoke is sort of towards the deep end when it comes to getting involved in social events.” Sometimes, it was easy to lose sight of the fact that Ryan had spent most of his life among demons, rather than humans. He had acclimated so well, the occasions when it was obvious that he was uncomfortable, due to his unfamiliarity with the concept of what it was to have fun, stood out. Carter reached out, placing a hand gently on Ryan’s shoulder. “No one’s going to make you get on the stage if you really don’t want to, Ryan.” He had a sudden realization that the exact moment that Kelsey was attempting to drag Chad onto the stage against his admittedly half-hearted protests could undermine his point to an extent. “I mean, Kelsey will ask, but she’ll back off if she gets that you mean it.”

Ryan shook his head. “It’s not that.” He looked to Carter. “Vypra came back somehow. And maybe she was a random occurrence, but...”

In a flash of recognition, Carter realized what Ryan was getting at. “Ryan, you’re not going to go off on another demon search!” he hissed, keeping his voice down so that Dana didn’t hear him. Anything he could do to keep this contained for the moment, not cause her to worry about losing her brother again. 

“It won’t be like before, Carter. Queen Bansheera’s gone, we made sure of that. She can’t get out of the tomb. But if Vypra managed to resurrect herself, what if Loki or Jinxer or something worse could do the same? Something has to be done.”

“So we do it as a team. Together. All of us.” Ryan going off to find some way of stopping Bansheera had been one of the most frustrating things that Carter had ever had happen in his Ranger career. It had been vital work, something that they’d needed to do, just like protecting the city. There had been no chance that, while they went off in search of answers, the demons would just stop their attempts to retake the city. There had to be a force in Mariner Bay, fighting Queen Bansheera and her forces. He couldn’t have gone with Ryan on that journey, much as he’d wanted to. Now, though, there was no such restriction on them – sure, there were always the run of the mill dangers that came from simple existence, the fires and robberies, the lives that the others, those who had no connection to the military beyond Lightspeed, had established, but there were those who could take up the slack now, do the same rescue work that Lightspeed Rescue was known for. A full team of Rangers in Mariner Bay wasn’t a vital defense now. There was the option this time.

But Ryan shook his head. “Carter, this is going to involve going into places where demons... live, breathe, and just... It’s not a place where humans are welcome. I can get in there because Diabolico raised me, that lets me know how to get around without being detected. The rest of you don’t have that, and I can’t protect you from those other demons. I have to do this alone.” 

There was some sense to what Ryan was saying. Not enough, in Carter’s opinion, but he could see something of Ryan’s explanation at least explained why he thought this needed to be a solo mission. But that wasn’t good enough for Carter. They’d spent too long fighting demons for Carter to ever believe that it was a good idea to attempt to deal with them without back up. “Ryan, if these demons you’d be encountering are anything like Bansheera or Diabolico, you NEED to have us going with you. You don’t have to do things alone anymore. You have a team, one that’s always going to be here for you.”

Carter’s words did seem to have an impact on Ryan, as he closed his eyes, smiling at the effort that Carter was making trying to convince him to not do this. But when he looked to Carter again, the Red Ranger knew that he still hadn’t managed to persuade him. “I know that, Carter.” Carter wasn’t so sure that he had known that, but he let Ryan continue uninterrupted. “But... I’m used to the dark. I know it. I know I don’t have to go alone, but...” He looked to the others, still heedless of the discussion happening in the corner. “They have their own lives now, things other than being Power Rangers. But... This is all I have to offer.”

An argument about how Ryan had more than just being a Power Ranger jumped to Carter’s lips. It didn’t make it out as he realized that Ryan had made it that way. He had only been with the team a short while before leaving the first time, and then, in the time since, as the others had returned to lives they’d left behind, or, in Carter’s case, focused on continuing the work of Lightspeed Rescue even without the actual project still active, Ryan had just had his family. Captain Mitchell and Dana had been all the life that Ryan had to go to after Bansheera had been defeated. For Ryan, being a Power Ranger was almost all that he really had to go on in terms of a place to belong. 

Much as Carter hated it, he could see exactly where Ryan was coming from, and a part of him felt that it made sense. He wanted to keep arguing, make Ryan realize that he had something here, that he didn’t need to go out somewhere, prove himself as a Ranger, just to have a place to lay his head. He could make a life, but he had to be here to start that. And Carter could see that Ryan had no idea how to begin.

Quickly, he began thinking, trying to figure out how he wanted to phrase this – he knew Ryan was dead-set on doing this, and no argument that Carter could come up with would dissuade him from doing it. Between Ryan, Dana, and the Captain, Carter had learned that stubbornness was a Mitchell family trait. 

And Mitchell stubbornness was something even Carter couldn’t hold out against. He sighed, conceding defeat. “I can’t talk you out of this, then.” It wasn’t even a question.

Ryan shook his head. “I’m going to do this, Carter. This needs to be done.”

“All right. I give. But Ryan... Contact Lightspeed if you run into trouble. I can’t keep you from doing this, but you do have backup.” There were things Carter wanted to add, that he needed to be trying to put together a life, if not in Mariner Bay, then somewhere, and he didn’t need to keep beating himself up for a past he had no control over. But he couldn’t quite get the words to come out. So he settled for a different set of words. “I’ll be there if you need anything.”

Ryan smiled at the statement. “Thank you, Carter. I will.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan had had more of a struggle convincing Captain Mitchell and Dana that he needed to go and do this alone. Both raised the same objections that Carter had, but they made it no further than he had. Ryan insisted and pushed, and ultimately, they’d caved. Ryan packed a bag and departed for parts unknown, warning them that he was likely to be out of contact for some time, even if he tried to stay in communication. It was the nature of the demonic places he’d be walking in. But he would make the effort to stay in touch.

It was a week later that Carter began to dream of him. 

He saw a cavern, filled with creatures. It reminded him of the glimpse he saw of the other side of the crypt they’d tossed Queen Bansheera into, creatures and monsters and demons milling around. At their heart was a giant throne, a shadowed figure sitting upon it. The crowd moved and revealed Ryan, beaten and bruised and bloodied. As the monsters surged towards him, Carter would jolt awake.

The first time, Carter did what he could to pass it off as concern for Ryan, since this time he didn’t have fighting Olympius’s demons to distract him like he had the last time Ryan had gone off to search for demonic things. 

After the third night of the dream repeating itself, utterly unchanged, his fears and concerns wouldn’t quiet down, and he had to speak to someone about it.

Captain Mitchell was, naturally, as concerned as Carter was about Ryan’s fate, But he couldn’t authorize anything official on the basis of dreams. 

“Apparently, the United States government will approve a top secret military project revolving around stopping demons and monsters with the vaguest of say-sos and evidence, but dreams are too flimsy to serve as evidence,” he said when Carter went to him, looking for approval to go after Ryan, sounding as frustrated as Carter felt. 

“Captain-”

“Carter, I cannot officially sanction you utilizing Lightspeed resources on a mission to recover one man, on his own, who is not on any sort of official mission. Ryan was very clear that he wasn’t doing this for Lightspeed, just as an individual, which means that Lightspeed is not involved.”

Carter almost began arguing again when the very deliberate emphasis on the Captain’s part sunk in. Lightspeed Rescue couldn’t go after Ryan. But Carter Greyson, who, despite still retaining his Rescue Morpher for Ranger business, was considered a private contractor, rather than a member of the US military, could.

This was how Carter found himself in the middle of the desert, out where Ryan’s last transmission home had come from, about a week after Ryan had gone missing. He’d discovered a place that Ryan had established as his base camp, which sparked more concern from him – it was obvious that Ryan had intended to be here regularly, and yet it showed signs of not having been used in days. While he’d been recruited into Lightspeed as a firefighter, he had picked up some investigative skill in his time there. 

Carter couldn’t find any evidence of the direction that Ryan had gone in, the wind having long since blown away any footprints. Still, the site wasn’t far from a set of ruins, which he considered a good starting point. Hopefully, at the least, there’d be some indication of where Ryan would have gone next, even if he didn’t find Ryan himself. It was a slim chance, but it was what he had. 

He was examining the hieroglyphics (at least, that was the closest word for them, though he remembered Ryan saying in one of his reports that they were in some demonic language from before humans had walked the earth) on one of the broken pillars when he heard a crackle on his communicator. “ _Carter, are you there?_ ”

“Dana?” 

“ _Yeah. My Dad told me what you were doing, what you thought about Ryan. Even if officially you’re not on Lightspeed business, he didn’t want you doing this entirely on your own._ ”

Even though he could figure that meant that they all would get in trouble with some authority or another, given that the more people knowing about what Carter was doing would mean that this would eventually be retroactively made into a Lightspeed mission, he was glad for her voice in his ear, if only for the company she offered. 

“Thanks for the back-up, Dana.”

“ _I figured you should practice what you preach._ ” Carter smiled at the gentle rebuke. “ _And Carter? When you bring Ryan home, we’re going have a talk about you not telling me what my brother was up to._ ” There was the flip side. A Mitchell on the warpath was never a good thing.

“I thought as much. I’ll make sure he’s there with me, though,” Carter responded.

“ _You’d better._ ” That out of the way, Carter could picture her sliding into a seat in the Lightspeed Mission Control and pulling up a live feed of his helmet’s camera. After a few moments, she came back on. “ _Wait a minute, Carter. Go back to that set of hieroglyphs you were looking at a minute ago._ ” Carter wasn’t sure exactly which set she was specifically referring to, so he turned back and looked over the last few sets until she ordered him to stop.

“What are you seeing, Dana?” he asked, not understanding. The images, which looked like a four year old’s fridge art to Carter’s admittedly untrained eye, gave him no clue as to what Dana was seeing.

After a moment, probably consulting with someone, which likely made this the most official unofficial mission in Lightspeed’s books, Dana was back on the line. “ _According to what we have on record, from the preliminary notes written up by the earliest Lightspeed agents who were looking in to Bansheera and Diabolico, and what Ryan gave us when he came back from the tomb, those symbols are in reference to a particular demonic entity. Uh... Something called “Vanthiku,” I think._ ” 

“Of course there are more demons. It would’ve been too much to ask that they were all under Bansheera’s control,” Carter muttered. That was one of the primary reasons that Lightspeed had reorganized after the Aquabase had been destroyed, that there were still demons out there who might threaten the world, ones with ambitions beyond taking back the former seat of their power. Still, that didn’t make it any less irritating that they now had confirmation.

Dana didn’t seem to have heard his aside, focusing on making her translations. When the silence went on for a long moment, he began to get really concerned. “Dana? Talk to me. What have you found?”

“ _Carter, this demon, Vanthiku, is the master of the demons’ underworld, where the consciousness of significantly powerful demons go when they’re destroyed._ ” That statement sent a chill down Carter’s spine at the thought – they’d been in the demonic underworld a time or two, and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience. Plus wouldn’t that be where Bansheera and Diabolico would end up? And... It clicked for him.

“Ryan. He would figure that this demon would know how Vpyra came back.” It took Carter all of five seconds to come to a decision. “Dana, does this talk about how to get to this Vanthiku?”

Naturally, Dana had some choice words about that idea. “ _Carter! You can’t be seriously considering this! We’re talking about demonic realms. Places that are utterly inhospitable to human life!_ ”

“Yeah, and Ryan’s surely already there.” Being out of contact like this, that made the most sense of what had happened to Ryan. He had gone to this demon’s domain and gotten into some kind of trouble. “I never should have let him come out here alone...” he muttered, more to himself than to Dana. He’d known it was dangerous for Ryan to go, and yet he’d let him come out here without any backup. How could he have been so willing to just let Ryan go, with only a few token arguments?

There would be time for self-recriminations later, though. Right now, getting Ryan back was the priority. And Carter wasn’t going to allow even the possibility of the thought to creep into his mind that it might be too late. “Dana, give me the information to get to Vanthiku’s realm.”

For a long moment, she was silent, not answering. Then he heard her sigh. “ _Okay. Let me walk you through it._ ” The ‘this will end in pain’ was implied. 

The ritual to open a portal to Vanthiku’s realm was involved, but didn’t involve gathering things, just saying a few words in front of the nearby altar. Despite TV’s portrayal, it didn’t require some Latin chanting. The magic was in the act, not the words. The ritual was simple enough. It was still nearing dark when Carter completed it, and, for the six hundred and eighty third time, he was telling himself that this was a bad idea, then countering with the fact that it was for Ryan.

He waited for a moment after completing the ritual, and he was rewarded with a portal of some kind forming in front of him. “Dana?”

“ _We’re seeing this. Carter, my Dad is reminding me that you’re likely to be out of contact on that side. He’s telling me that Miss Fairweather had been working on a communications booster before the wedding, so we’re going to give it a field test. He doesn’t want you out of contact._ ”

“So we’re giving up all pretense of Lightspeed not being involved by this point?” he asked, trying to ease the tension. He could still feel her glaring at him over the comm, despite how she had no frame of reference for where his face was. He knew she was worried, both for Ryan and for Carter, but he knew that it was also important for him to put forward the idea that he didn’t have any doubts that he was going to pull this off. That was the way his position as leader of the team worked. He needed to remain confident. 

A moment later, the communications booster was sent to him, a pair of beacons that attached to one another. “What do I do with this, Dana?” He could guess, but he’d better make sure.

“ _You pull them apart, set one of them on this side of the portal, set the other one when you go through. Carter... Be careful._ ”

“I will, Dana.” He knew better than to lie to her about him being safe, but he could at least offer him being careful. That might not mean much when meeting a demon, but it at least was true. He took a steadying breath before morphing, then taking a step through the portal.

He supposed any expectation of a feeling of having stepped foot in a realm not meant to be traveled by humans was his own mistake. After all, he’d been in the demonic underworld before, he knew that there wasn’t really much discernible difference between the two. Still, he couldn’t help but feel almost let down that there was no change in the air, no rush of sensation, no sense of imminent danger, now that he was here. Just something to really bring home the fact that he was standing in the demonic underworld.

But this looked like a cave. The most standard of cave possibilities, probably. Not that he’d seen them all, but this looked like pretty much every cave he’d ever been in. Not that he realistically expected differently, but still...

He listened for any indication that Dana was still in contact with him, waiting for her to check on him. But there was nothing. He sighed. So much for Miss Fairweather’s communications booster’s field test...

There was no point in standing here, waiting for it. The longer he stood around waiting for some possible contact from Dana and the rest of Lightspeed, the more likely something would happen to Ryan. So all that he had to do was forge ahead. The Ranger suits had emergency lights available for their use, helmet and wrist mounted lights that were usually switched off and not activated during standard combat. But, given the lack of traditional light sources in the cavern, Carter figured better safe than sorry. 

He quickly realized that he was easily running the risk of losing track of time, given the sheer unending sameness of this place. While there did seem to be a light source, causing him to not need to fully rely on what his suit provided, there was no change in intensity as he moved, indicating that whatever was generating that light wasn’t anything that he could use to navigate, use as a locational beacon. At least it was a single passage, though, not having branched off. It would at least make it easy not getting lost. 

What would also help with not getting lost was the sudden vine-like tendrils that suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped around him. 

He struggled against them, but found his efforts mostly useless against them. They began to pull him into the ground, and he watched as his feet began to sink into the dirt under them. He redoubled his efforts, but it was no use. He continued to sink...

...And then, once the tendrils had pulled him down, he found himself in the court of Hell.

Perhaps it wasn’t actually hell, but it sure looked like it. There were flames on the horizon, and the path before him was fenced on either side by what appeared to be blackened bones, piled up high enough to reach over Carter’s head, though there were gaps in it that could allow Carter to see beyond this path he was on. The path led to a castle, similarly cast from bone. Through the gaps in the fence, Carter could make out a disturbing sight – multiple creatures, more than a few of whom Carter recognized from Bansheera’s army. They stood amongst a barren wasteland, a place burnt out and scarred, with a dim orange light illuminating it from above.

And they caught sight of him and began surging for the gaps in the fence, letting out screams and cries, reaching for him through the gaps. Yet he was just out of their reach. The tendrils began moving him forward, and Carter realized that he was, in effect, being escorted. He stopped struggling, doubting that the effort would have any point. And if he was going where he thought he was, the last thing that he needed was to waste his strength here and now.

The cries of the demons reaching for him continued. He knew that if a fight broke out, there’d be no way to get through that army. He doubted that if they were truly determined, the fence would have held them back, but the fence might not be something they had any power over. The fence was likely controlled by the same entity controlling the tendrils dragging him to whatever his fate was to be. The fact that the fence was there, a barrier between Carter and the demons who wanted to rip him limb from limb, said that there might be a chance to resolve this peacefully.

Carter may have been selected as a Power Ranger to fight demons, but he knew impossible odds when he saw them. His purpose here was a rescue mission, not to cull the herd. And if Vanthiku was interested in talking, which, he assumed they were, due to him being brought here and apparently being brought before them, kept safe from the demons out amongst the wastes on the other side of the barriers, rather than being killed outright, he might be able to get through this all without getting himself or Ryan killed and hell being unleashed upon the world.


	3. Chapter 3

The tendrils that had wrapped around him brought him to the seat of an immense throne. The throne was empty as Carter was brought to it, but the moment the tendrils stopped, there was a rush of air and a figure appeared before it. Without even knowing that this realm was ruled by Vanthiku, Carter would have been able to tell right away that this was the undisputed ruler of this place.

A red hood concealing any face, draped over scarred battle armor. Blackened wings that folded up around that armor as the wind died off. Gnarled and blackened claws, fingers longer than any human’s could ever be, wrapped around the hilt of a sword that could probably take off Carter’s head in a single swing. This could only be Vanthiku.

“And so comes another intruder to my realm.” Vanthiku’s voice was cold and without emotion, like an ice wind. Yet there was also an undercurrent of something else, of a chorus of whispering voices, echoing his every word, voices of men, women, children, and monsters, all speaking at once. Carter did his best to repress a shiver from running down his spine, and wasn’t entirely successful. “For untold millennia, my realm has been held separate from that of humanity. And yet within days of one another, humans intrude upon the very seat of my power. Explain yourself, human. I have little patience for my time wasted frivolously.”

Carter had to take a moment to formulate a response to that. He hadn’t really known what he’d expected of Vanthiku, but it hadn’t been that. Maybe Bansheera and Olympius had left too great an impact on him, but he had expected a speech about ‘doom upon the world’ and ‘take back the seat of power.’ Vanthiku’s speech indicated a disinterest in the world of humanity.

He’d try respectful, particularly given that Vanthiku had him at his mercy. “I’m seeking the other human who came here. I just wanted to bring him home.”

He could only base his impressions of Vanthiku’s response on body language, given the hood covering the demon lord’s face. And, given the faces of several of the demons that the Ranger had fought, that probably wouldn’t have offered anything either. Unfortunately for Carter, Vanthiku wasn’t even giving him that, keeping unnaturally still as that processed. And, of course, there was the fact that demons could have entirely different cues than humans did. 

Finally, the other entity deigned to speak. “My realm is not for your kind, human. Unlike those such as Queen Bansheera, I hold no interest in interaction with other realms. I am the king of demonic dead, the lord of the damned. That is my role, and I willingly fulfill it. In coming here, you risk violating my desire for keeping our worlds separate.” Vanthiku was silent for a moment. “That would be unwise.” The words were a chilling pronouncement, a warning against anything of the sort. “The human you are here to recover violated my realm. He is touched by a demon lord. As such, I could easily claim him as one of ours, subject to my rule above all else. Give me reason to freely turn him over to you.”

That took Carter by surprise. He’d expected Vanthiku to either be straight up ‘mua-ha-ha, I’ll never let him go, you’ll have to fight for his freedom,’ or, if he’d been very, VERY lucky, Vanthiku would just give him Ryan with a demand never to return to this realm. Instead... Instead, it seemed Vanthiku was planning to make him provide entertainment. To put on a show for his pleasure, just because he could demand it of them.

He didn’t want to be Vanthiku’s method of killing time. But he quickly managed to convince himself to play along. Vanthiku held the cards in this, all of them. He couldn’t win a fight with Vanthiku. Carter would have to dance to Vanthiku’s tune, much as he might not want to.

Quickly, he tried to think up an argument that could sway the demon lord. Though he somehow had a feeling that Vanthiku was not the type to easily be satisfied. “Because... because if you don’t let me take Ryan out of here, more humans, our friends, are going to come to find us.”

Vanthiku seemed unmoved, making a motion that could almost be a shrug. “And they will be ensnared as easily as you have been. More intrusion would be unpleasant, but not unmanageable. And would run the risk of my ire. I am the lord of the demonic dead, human. My armies are the already vanquished. They have nothing to lose, for they will return here if slain. And I would command them to return to the same battlefield upon which they were slain. A war with me is an apocalypse for you, and you will lose such a proposition.” 

Strike one. Also, not a future he particularly wanted to ever see come to pass.

“You wouldn’t have kept Ryan alive if you planned to just turn around and kill him.”

Again, Vanthiku wasn’t impressed with his argument. “I found amusement in allowing him, and you, to survive this long. Amusement only lasts so long, yet longer still with one raised such as he. Bansheera and Diabolico’s stench lingers over him. Their chosen instruments in... child-rearing would leave much to be desired by your kind.” Carter could agree on that count. “However, the result is his tolerance to pain is greater that most of your kind. I would likely inflict permanent damage before I could inflict true pain. Though it is troublesome finding a denizen of my realm capable of stitching together one of your kind.” Vanthiku almost looked to be taunting him.

Either way, strike two.

There weren’t many more arguments Carter had available to him. He wanted to resolve this without fighting, knowing it’d be hopeless. He figured appealing to Vanthiku’s better nature wasn’t going to work, appealing to his desire for isolation hadn’t worked, and Vanthiku wanted Ryan here more for the chuckles than anything that he could provide.

_...Wait a minute..._ Carter’s mythological studies were rusty, but the idea of Vanthiku thinking of amusement dislodged something.

“You want to use us for amusement?” he asked, suddenly confident.

It seemed Vanthiku recognized the shift in Carter’s attitude, as the hood covering the demon lord’s head cocked. “Look around you, human. This is not a place where much in the way of ‘entertainment’ exists, unless one wishes to witness the crack of bone, the spilling of blood. Such entertainment is accepted for some period of time, but eventually wears thin. Sometimes, all it takes is new blood. Such as watching my subject rip the flesh from the bodies of two foolish humans who wandered into realms they should have left alone. This has its entertainment value to me. Would you care to offer an alternative?”

“Human mythology has a tale. A man seeks to bring back someone he cared for from the underworld. The god of the underworld allows him to take her back to the world of the living, if he does not lay eyes upon them until they cross the threshold of the two worlds.” The Greek Mythology course he took back in college actually came in handy in his career. Who would’ve thought?

“And you seek to follow in the footsteps of this myth?” Vanthiku asked. Now the demon lord sounded amused. Carter wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or if there even were situations where a demon lord’s amusement could even be a good thing. But it was a sign that he might be on the right track, which was a good thing in Carter’s book. For a demon, Vanthiku was almost agreeable. 

“I figure it could provide you with some entertainment, seeing if I can succeed where Orpheus failed.”

For a moment, Vanthiku was silent, considering. There was a look to the demon lord that Carter would almost call contemplative. He hoped that was a good thing, though he had no idea as to whether or not there actually was anything approaching ‘a good thing’ with something like Vanthiku. 

Then Vanthiku waved a hand and another bundle of tendrils appeared, this one holding Ryan, morphed, and holding his weapon, though the tendrils were too tight to allow him to raise it or relax his grip. Carter tried to reach for him, but his arms were still bound by the tendrils holding him. 

Ryan immediately recognized Carter and he seemed to slump, at least as much as possible given the tendrils holding him in place. His visor slipped apart, revealing his face. “Carter... You were captured too.”

“And he has made a suggestion that may well affect you,” Vanthiku stated. “Should I agree.” He looked back to Carter. “You have given me reason to consider your idea. Convince me further, human.”

“Carter, don’t. Don’t make deals with demons. They never end well,” Ryan said.

A raised hand from Vanthiku was enough to silence him. “Your fate hangs in the balance, human. Your voice is not required.” There was a chill in Vanthiku’s voice, enough to get the idea that this wasn’t negotiable in the slightest. Ryan went silent, though he still looked like he wanted to argue. 

Carter tried not to let Ryan’s plea get to him. He knew that Ryan was right, that deals with demons were usually tipped in the demon’s favor, but Ryan’s life was on the line. He couldn’t take leaving him here for Vanthiku to do what he wanted with him. “What would it take to convince you, then?”

“A difficult question. I have many options for entertainment beyond indulging a reenactment of a human myth. They tend to be... too tame for my tastes.” Carter had an unsettling idea of what would be to Vanthiku’s tastes, and chose not to dwell on that. 

Carter struggled to come up with reasons that this would be entertainment for the demon. He hadn’t even thought that he’d be able to get this far with Vanthiku. He’d honestly thought there’d have been a lot more fighting by this point, as futile as that would have been. “I can’t promise you entertainment,” he said, opting for honesty with Vanthiku. For a demon, Vanthiku seemed to be rather reasonable. Carter hoped that offering him the truth would at least earn him a few points in favor. 

“A pity, that,” Vanthiku said, tilting his head as if disappointed. “Entertaining me was the foundation of this agreement. If you cannot offer that, perhaps this deal is not feasible after all.”

Vanthiku’s words caused Ryan to begin struggling against the tendrils holding him again. In response, the tendrils stiffened and held closer to him, tight enough now that they seemed to be cutting off his circulation. 

“Please!” Carter cried, the sight of Ryan in pain too much for him. He looked to Vanthiku pleadingly. “Please, just don’t... Don’t hurt him.”

Vanthiku paused, considering that. He examined Carter for a long moment, then stepped away from the two of them. The tendrils that were wrapped around Carter turned him around. “There may be enough entertainment in your offer,” Vanthiku said. Carter began being moved by the tendrils back down the path, though Vanthiku’s voice remained in his ear. “You may proceed towards your world. But should you fail, should you gaze upon him before you have both returned to your realm, I will have you both returned to my domain. And there will be no escape for you. If your friends come to find you, they will join you, without the courtesy I have shown today of granting them an audience. There will be no further negotiations. No more talk. I will bargain no more with the denizens of the human world. I grow weary of your kind. I trust I am clear on this?”

“Couldn’t be clearer.” Though Carter figured that all the warnings that Vanthiku could or would offer wouldn’t stop the other Rangers if this failed. But he had no intentions of failing.

The tendrils moved him forward, and while he reflexively started to turn his head to check to see if Ryan was coming with him, he realized that would end this before it began. He had to keep his eyes forward. He figured that even trying to watch him through his helmet’s head’s up display would count against him, even if it was only an image of Ryan, rather than him in person. Better to not offer any kind of potential loophole for Vanthiku to use against them. 

The tendrils pushed him back upwards, heading towards the caverns that he’d been brought down here through. It was even more disconcerting being pushed through the rock face upwards than it had been to be pulled downwards. Despite knowing that Vanthiku wouldn’t just kill him so casually after his promise of watching them for entertainment’s sake, it still caused Carter an instinctive panic at the sight of the stone rushing towards him. Yet he passed through the rock unharmed. He was actually somewhat grateful that there was no light within the space between where Vanthiku had been and the caverns he’d walked through. He had the feeling that there were probably things in the dark, in those spaces between spaces, that no human was ever meant to see. 

Once he was through, the tendrils released him. He pitched forward in the process, falling to the ground. Only with the tendrils gone did he realize how tightly they’d held him. Vanthiku had relaxed them enough for him to breathe and speak, but they’d been tight enough that he couldn’t do a whole lot else, and now he was feeling the pain of having been wrapped and bound. He truly hoped Vanthiku would keep to his word and allow them to risk breaking the terms of the deal on their own, rather than tricking him into breaking the deal. 

After a few moments, letting Carter get his bearings, he heard Ryan pull himself up.

“You shouldn’t have done this, Carter,” Ryan said. “Deals with demons never end well.”

Carter sighed. He’d hoped that he could at least get a few minutes of breath-catching before Ryan got to his ‘you can’t trust demons’ talk. “Good to see you again, too. You’re welcome for the rescue, by the way.” He decided not to mention that this was at least the second one that Ryan owed him when it came to rescue from demon lords. 

“Carter... You should know better than to make a deal with a demon.” Ryan wasn’t offering something he hadn’t known going into this. Ryan himself was an example, given the deal that Captain Mitchell had made with Diabolico in order to save his life. Sure, Diabolico had saved Ryan’s life, but he’d trained the human child he’d stolen to be a weapon for Queen Bansheera, eventually unleashing him upon the unsuspecting humans of Mariner Bay.

“I couldn’t just leave you there, Ryan,” Carter said, struggling not to look at him. “You were in trouble, you needed help... This is what Power Rangers... what TEAMMATES do for each other.” Carter started moving, expecting Ryan to follow him. 

He took comfort in the footsteps that came from behind, indicating Ryan was following him, even while he spent his time admonishing Carter’s decision. “And I don’t mean to sound like an ingrate. It’s just... Carter, how can you think that this plan is going to end well? Vanthiku’s a demon. A demon LORD, no less. It’s like expecting Bansheera to keep her word!”

Carter doubted that Ryan wanted to be reminded that, ultimately, Diabolico had shown some kind of honor, turning on Bansheera as she’d taken out her generals, even sacrificing her own son, and ultimately dragging her into the pit with him. There were some demons who had that glimmer of redemptive possibilities. “I know. But... All I knew was that I had to come find you.” He hadn’t put it like that before, but in saying it, Carter recognized the truth. 

For several minutes, they walked in silence. Carter didn’t think that the cavern was this long when he’d entered. He began to wonder if Vanthiku had manipulated things somehow in order to present more of a challenge. It wouldn’t surprise him. 

Since Ryan did not seem to have anything to say in response to Carter’s statement, Carter decided to change the subject. “I don’t suppose Vanthiku was willing to chat about how Vypra came back with you?”

Ryan was quiet for a moment, and Carter wasn’t sure if he was withholding an answer or just coming to accept what had happened. It was a slight relief when he spoke up. “The impression I got was that Vypra maintained some semblance of her mind when she was destroyed and sent here, then managed to use some old magics, something that depended on the alignment of stars, along with however she was originally destroyed, to drag herself out of the underworld.” Vypra had simply stopped appearing there near the end. They’d assumed that Bansheera had destroyed her for her failures, but they’d never had any evidence one way or the other, beyond her absence as things began to hit the fan. Carter idly wondered if maybe Vanthiku had let her go for entertainment as well. That could also have explained the minions she’d brought with her. “Though Vanthiku wasn’t exactly chatting with me whenever he felt like it. I was a prisoner, not a guest,” Ryan added.

“Just asking the question. That was why you came out here in the first place.” Ryan still sounded like he was irritated that Carter had done this. Carter was tempted to tell him that being angry that he had done this wasn’t going to change that he’d done it. 

The walk continued in an uncomfortable silence. Now, Carter knew that Vanthiku had done something to make the journey longer. He sighed. “I think I know how Vanthiku decided to make this your average demon deal. We’ve been walking a lot longer than I did coming in.”

“Same here. I was hoping I was imagining it,” Ryan sighed. “Carter, this isn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, but we’re both in it now. No backing out of the deal. So the way I see it, you can either accept that it’s happening this way and kick my ass when we get home or you can come around here and condemn us both to Vanthiku’s realm for the rest of eternity.” Carter hadn’t meant to snap. He usually made a concentrated effort not to let anger or frustration be so readily apparent. He was the leader of the Power Rangers. He had a duty to be an example, to keep his cool.

But the way Ryan approached what he’d done had begun to get under his skin. Carter had risked his career, his life, and, probably, his immortal soul to come after Ryan and get him out of here. He might not fight for the sake of being glorified, but a little recognition and appreciation would certainly not be unappreciated.

The demand from Carter caused Ryan to go quiet, making the walk incredibly dull. Carter knew that they had to be providing Vanthiku lousy entertainment. While he didn’t mind that in theory, he had pieced together enough to figure that Vanthiku was stretching this out for the purpose of getting the most entertainment possible. If they didn’t give Vanthiku what he wanted, they could very well end up stuck down here in these tunnels until either Carter broke and looked at Ryan or until they starved to death. 

It took a while for something other than the silence to come. Carter wasn’t sure what it was at first. Then Ryan spoke up. “Carter. Do you hear that? It sounds like...”

“Running water.” That definitely hadn’t been there on his way in. “Vanthiku is definitely changing the landscape to make this more difficult.” Or ‘entertaining,’ as he’d called it. 

Carter could hear Ryan already shaking his head and muttering about how Carter was risking his life foolishly. Fortunately, he seemed to have accepted it as happening whether or not he liked it, as he didn’t actually say anything on the subject.

A short distance further, the passage opened up into a cavern. There was running water all right. The cavern they stood in was cut through by a rapidly moving current. The torrent of water was far too large to cross in a single bound, looking to have about the breadth of both feet of a Megazord. Carter guessed that the current was moving so fast, if either of them fell in, they’d be completely out of view within ten seconds. There was a strip of walkable area on either side, but Carter stayed put in the entrance, not daring to move, not trusting himself not to glance to Ryan while they discussed what they were going to do.

“There has to be a way across,” he said, desperately hoping he was right.

“Why would there be? It’s not as if Vanthiku would need one. If he’s rearranging everything to give us more of a challenge, he could just reshape this river away if he wanted to pass.”

Was it the fact that he’d been captured that was making Ryan so pessimistic? Carter had to resist the impulse to turn to him with a cheeky grin, keeping in mind the agreement with Vanthiku. “Right, it’s a challenge. As long as there’s a chance we can make it through. If we can’t win, it’s not a challenge. It’s not ‘entertainment.’ That’s what Vanthiku was on about. He can’t be entertained if we don’t have a chance.”

“I’d just like to point out ‘a chance’ doesn’t mean that we have anything approaching a SUCCESSFUL chance.” Ryan almost sounded like normal. Carter took it as a good sign. If nothing else, hopefully it meant that Ryan was accepting the situation.

He was right, of course, but the better idea was to try and be positive under the circumstances. “All right, I’d say we should split up, but I’d rather not tempt fate too much and risk breaking the rules. Got a preferred direction? Right or left?” 

Ryan was quiet for a minute, likely looking over the paths. “If Vanthiku is manipulating everything here, it probably doesn’t matter. No point in us not finding some way across whichever way we pick.”

“Fair point. Right it is.” The choice was entirely arbitrary, but Carter figured they might as well follow the usual laws of water movement and follow the path of the river. While they were unlikely to find their way to a point where the water calmed, since Vanthiku was pulling the strings, it made as much sense as anything if they were looking for a way out.

The silence dropped back on them as they moved, though Carter appreciated that it seemed Ryan had given up discussing the reasons why this was a bad idea. He didn’t want to spend the entire trip back in silence. Granted, he was having this thought in the midst of a period of silence between the two of them, but still. It was progress. The quicker they got out of here, the better. 

They walked in a peaceful silence – there hadn’t been much that hadn’t been discussed during the trip back to Mariner Bay from Silver Hills. At least amongst the others. Carter realized that, though he hadn’t been aware of it at the time, busy as he’d been both driving the Rover and making his own contributions to the conversation, Ryan had been quiet through most of the trip.

“Where exactly did Eric find you, anyway?” Carter asked.

There was a pause, Ryan processing the non sequitur, no doubt. “He... met me when I got to Silver Hills. Said he’d heard about the Time Force Rangers, knew they had allies coming in.”

“I would have called you with the others, but Dana insisted on doing it herself.” Carter had to admit, at the time he’d been a little disappointed that he hadn’t been the one to call Ryan. He’d missed his friend. When they’d defeated Bansheera, it had been all too easy for them to scatter to the winds. Dana finally had the time she’d needed to finish the practical work of getting her medical license, particularly given the practical application she had over her time with Lightspeed. Joel had his whirlwind romance with Miss Fairweather (Carter still could not accept calling her ‘Angela,’ much as he tried), which had taken up much of his time when he wasn’t getting back into stunt flying. Kelsey had a number of offers of endorsements she could finally take up without the looming specter of demons hanging over their heads. Chad had started a marine rescue project, which had taken up much of his time. 

And Ryan had gone off somewhere, trying to better understand his place in the world he’d been born into but hadn’t been raised in. Carter had understood what he’d been doing, trying to better understand himself and his place in the world, but he’d missed his friend. Carter thought he could have found a place at least through working with him. And Lightspeed. But he hadn’t stayed, and Carter hadn’t imposed, which had led to Ryan leaving without a word.

He regretted that now. He wished he’d made more of an effort to make Ryan connected to the others. It had been easy to let him go – he’d kept himself aloof from the others, separate and isolated, he hadn’t felt those ties to the Rangers, at least beyond his blood tie to the Captain and Dana. There’d been nothing compelling him to stick around, and Carter found he wished he’d been able to provide him with that. 

Carter realized that Ryan had said something while he’d been thinking things over again, and it seemed he was awaiting a response. “Sorry? I was... thinking.”

“I said I think my suit’s picking up something. About twenty meters ahead of us.”

Now that he said it, Carter noticed similar indications up ahead. As they moved, it became easier to make it out. Carter heard Ryan’s indrawn hiss of breath before he put it together, but realized why moments later.

Diabolico.


	4. Chapter 4

The fallen demon stood before them. No, Carter realized. While he was solid from the neck up, the rest of his form had a spectral quality to it, to the point that his legs were barely outlined and his feet couldn’t be made out at all.

“Rangers,” the demon said as a greeting. Carter fought an urge to drop into a combat stance, only just holding back as he realized that Diabolico was unlikely to be a threat as he was now. Unlikely, but still possible.

“What are you doing here, Diabolico?” Ryan got out. Carter could picture his hand balled into fists at his side, even the look on his face of restrained rage. Little could get Ryan’s blood boiling like the demon who’d raised him through his childhood.

“I am here to deliver a message for you, Rangers. Vanthiku felt it fair to warn you of this river, and believed you deserved to know what it is. He selected me as a messenger because of our... familiarity,” Diabolico stated. 

Though Diabolico had always been an enemy for the Rangers, Carter had considered him almost honorable. He’d turned on Bansheera because of her casual dismissal of the soldiers under her command, those who’d been unendingly loyal to her, even her own son. He’d even come to help the Rangers banish her into the Underworld. Though he’d sought the destruction of the Rangers and Mariner Bay, he’d had his own code of honor and, by loose terms, ethics. 

Carter’s awareness of that let him nod at Diabolico, though behind his visor, his eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “Then give your warning.”

Diabolico made a sweeping motion towards the river. “Your way out is on the other side of this river. But the river itself is a danger.”

“We figured that out,” Carter remarked. The violent speed of the river did not lend itself to either of the Rangers feeling an urge to go and take a swim.

“There is more to it than its swiftness. You referred to a human legend in offering Vanthiku this bargain. Are you not familiar with other elements of your own lore?” Diabolico spoke with mocking amusement. Apparently, you could take away his loyalty to Queen Bansheera, and he was still a bastard. What a shock. Diabolico seemed uninterested in letting Carter answer his question, which, given the breadth of mythology, Carter didn’t mind particularly. He motioned to the river. “You will survive an encounter with the river should you fall in it. This, Vanthiku offers his guarantee. But that survival shall come at a cost. This is the river Lethe. The river of forgetfulness. Fall in, you will forget all that has come before. All you are, all you were, why you are here, what you are returning to... It will all be gone.”

That actually was a useful warning. Naturally, neither Ranger felt it was advice offered without strings. “Beyond us knowing about it, why did Vanthiku feel the need to tell us about this?” Carter asked, crossing his arms. 

“Because despite what you have come to expect from Queen Bansheera, most demons have a code of honor. We may not align with your human beliefs on the subject, but it is there. Vanthiku offered his word that, so long as you follow the terms of your agreement with him, you would be able to leave his realm with your prize-” Carter kept his eyes on Diabolico, but still threw out an arm in an attempt at calming Ryan, knowing Diabolico was just trying to bait him. “-and so your being informed allows you to make your way with the full knowledge available to you.”

Neither Ranger trusted Diabolico any further than they could throw him, even if he weren’t incorporeal at the moment. But that didn’t change the fact that his warning was something they had to pay attention to. Despite the messenger, the message came from someone they had been dealing faithfully with so far. There was no reason to dismiss it out of hand. 

“So we won’t fall in. Thanks for the warning,” Ryan said, gently pushing against Carter, attempting to move him forward. Carter let him, finding himself comforted by the touch. He hadn’t realized that he’d been so eager to have even the little gestures back, the return of Ryan as a part of the team. 

But he held his position for a moment. He didn’t know what it was that made him want to stay back for an extra moment. “Thank you.” For more than the warning – Carter would have been trapped in the underworld with Bansheera had it not been for Diabolico appearing to save him in that final battle. Although Diabolico would never have been an ally or friend, he had aided the Power Rangers. Carter would give him that.

Diabolico made a non-committal sound, then vanished. With the demon gone, Carter started moving forward again. The sooner they crossed the river and got away from here, the better. If Diabolico was giving them a message about getting across, telling them not to fall in, that had to mean that somewhere up ahead of them was something that they could cross on, a bridge of some kind. At worst, it’d be a tightrope.

It soon came into sight, without needing the helmet’s HUD radar to let them know where it was. 

“Well, it’s not a tightrope,” Carter said as it became clear. Of course, it wasn’t really much better.

What was before them was a bridge, made of rope and wooden planks. It did cross the length of the gap between the two sides of the river, but on something that size, something that even in their power suits, neither of them could cross in any single leap, it didn’t seem like enough, not even before getting to the state of the bridge itself. It looked rickety, frayed, and potentially rotted out, like it would fall apart at the wrong breath.

Carter had to resist a very strong urge to turn to Ryan with a shit-eating grin. He could feel Ryan’s glare, though he fortunately didn’t remind Carter yet again about making a deal with a demon. “It’s a bridge, right?”

“There’s no way we’re going to make it across the river on that thing. It’ll fall apart before we make it over the river.” Before Carter could try to persuade him, he continued. “We can’t trust Vanthiku, Carter. You know it. He’s a demon. They make their living on lies and being untrustworthy. This is not about trying to prove something. This is your life, Carter.”

“Yeah, and it’s yours too.” Carter was having a hard time not turning to Ryan, always cognizant of the deal with Vanthiku, how he couldn’t look at Ryan. It was hard to have an argument when you couldn’t look at the person you were arguing with. But he was managing, though he was sort of twitching, keeping himself from actually turning to look at Ryan. “You’ve been played with by demons all your life, Ryan. Diabolico, Bansheera, now Vanthiku... I couldn’t just leave you here. I had to do something. And we’re stuck on this ride now. We can’t just get off here. We have to keep going. You understand?”

For a long moment, Ryan was silent. Carter knew that he wasn’t going anywhere without him, that he was still there, but he still felt like he needed to check for him. He had to keep from looking to Ryan, struggling with the fact that he couldn’t look at him. The tale of Orpheus never spoke about that part of the walk...

“I do. And I’m sorry for seeming so ungrateful for what you’ve been doing. I know you’re just doing what you think is right. But... I don’t want you to suffer for my mistake. I made the choice to come here, and now you’re caught up in this. You shouldn’t be here. I... I don’t want you to get hurt, Carter.” 

“I’m a Power Ranger. Getting hurt is always a danger,” Carter pointed out, though it was a deflection from the fact that he felt similar. That was, after all, the heart of the reason that he came after Ryan, wasn’t it?

There was another silence for a long moment, then he heard Ryan sigh. “Well, I suppose we should get going. The longer we stand around here...”

“The more likely Vanthiku will come up with something that will make this harder for us,” Carter nodded. He started for the rickety looking bridge. 

As he approached it, he began to feel like the sound of everything but the rushing water had faded out. The roar of the river was overpowering, to the point Carter wasn’t even sure if he was hearing his own breathing.

Gingerly, he started moving across the bridge. Although it felt solid enough, Carter wasn’t about to trust it. Odds were the moment he let his guard down and started thinking that this would be a proverbial cake walk would be the moment that the bridge gave way. He was going to go slow and steady. 

The creaking of each of his steps on the bridge was unsettling. He knew that he was psyching himself out, making himself worried about falling when he wasn’t necessarily in danger of it, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Human nature apparently said that if you were on a rickety bridge that crossed a giant chasm over a rushing river that would take away your memories, you were just going to have to deal with the fear of falling. Made perfect sense, all things considered. 

He tried to think if there was anything that he could think of that would draw his mind away from the bridge and the river rushing below them. He had half a mind to try and start up a round of singing, even if his voice wasn’t even fit for karaoke night, just to have something to focus on that wasn’t the closeness of death below them, though he realized that he didn’t know how well Ryan was familiar with songs that weren’t kids songs from a decade plus ago.

“Ryan?” His voice somehow managed to make it through the rush of water, the conversational tone sounding almost like a shout given how focused they had both been on the crossing. “I never really had a chance to ask you this before. How have you been handling being in the human world?” Not the most politic way of putting it, but it was straight-forward.

And Ryan had always seemed to like straight-forward. “I’ve been adjusting. It’s been... different. What I remember of life before Diabolico took me... It’s more like a dream than anything.” Carter could imagine. He really didn’t want to think of how Diabolico and the other demons had chosen to raise a human child. He was honestly surprised that he hadn’t seen scars from beatings over the years on the occasions that he’d seen Ryan without his shirt on. 

“Well, when we get back to Mariner Bay, I’m going to take you out to give you a chance to find your feet,” Carter promised. He wasn’t about to frame that as an ‘if.’ Give him a goal, he’d fight for it. 

There was a beat of silence from Ryan. “Dana said something about doing the same. Even suggested that...” He trailed off for a moment. “She suggested that I should try and make friends with people outside of Lightspeed.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Carter said. He had occasional drinks with some of the guys from his days with the Mariner Bay fire department, though the last few months hadn’t offered him the opportunity. Maybe he’d invite Ryan along to the next time he went out. “Could be nice, give you a chance to loosen up some.”

“I think she was trying to encourage me to go on a date with someone.” Carter almost stumbled at the remark. He managed to cover it, just barely, by making like he was testing the next step, and it seemed Ryan didn’t realize what had happened. “She was talking about introducing to some of her friends from medical school. It sounded like she wanted to set me up.”

The statement was like an epiphany for Carter, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognized it sooner. Had he ignored the signs, or just not pieced them all together? He felt like, in retrospect, it all had an air of being obvious, and yet he had missed all the signs.

He was in love with Ryan. 

The idea that Dana was trying to set him up had sent a pang right through his heart. He’d gone off on this mission to rescue Ryan, on the basis of a handful of dreams that even he had admitted could have really just been him being worried. And he’d put his own life on the line to save him. He’d go to hell for Ryan. He was in love with Ryan.

This was, he quickly realized, also not the time to be having this realization, or at least to act on it. They needed to get across this bridge and get home. There’d be time enough to deal with all the things that made that a complicated and complex thought when they were back in Mariner Bay.

That was when the board under Carter’s feet snapped in two.

“Carter!” Ryan shouted. Carter could hear Ryan starting to dive for him, but, more importantly at that moment, he was doing everything to grab on to what he could of the bridge. He’d just realized that he was in love with Ryan. He was not about to lose that realization, along with everything else, here and now.

But the board he reached for snapped as well, falling to splinters in his fingertips. For a long, drawn out moment, all Carter could think was that, after all he’d been through, after the fights with Diabolico, Olympius, and Bansheera, and now the recognition of his feeling for Ryan, this was going to be how it all came to an end. Even if Diabolico had been right and he survived falling into the river below, he’d lose all that, his memories washed away like they’d never been there. 

But then he felt Ryan’s hand grip his. “Don’t look up!” Ryan called out, which seemed a strange thing to say, considering that there was a raging river below them. Then he remembered Vanthiku’s bargain. Looking up at his savior, even if it was instinctual, would have banished them both to Vanthiku’s realm forever. 

Granted, the opposite view wasn’t much better. Carter kept his visor in place and his helmet’s monitor screens focused ahead, trying to keep from getting any kind of image of the rushing river below. 

With some effort, Ryan managed to pull him up enough that Carter could grab on to the bridge again, fortunately finding a sturdier board to grip. Ryan still helped him pull his body up, and Carter privately acknowledged his appreciation for the opportunity to have Ryan’s hands a little more intimate than they would normally, but, again. Not the time. 

For a few moments, they stayed put, catching their breath, neither of them really wanting to acknowledge just how close Carter had been to falling to his death, literal or metaphorical. 

“Carter?” Ryan said as Carter started to feel like he could move again. “You need to go on a diet.” It took a moment for the comment to fully sink in. When it did, they both broke into laughter. It was a lame joke, but under the circumstances, the fact that they were alive to make the joke made it the funniest thing either had heard.

When the laughter subsided, Carter could swear he could still feel the bridge shaking and creaking, ready to give at out any moment, probably. “We need to keep moving,” he said, pulling himself up. He started moving again, comforted by the sound of Ryan following him.


	5. Chapter 5

Carter found himself waiting for the ropes holding the bridge up to snap, or another board under his feet to give way. Surely it wasn’t going to be that easy for them. The river was an obstacle, the bridge had almost immediately been given to them, and Ryan had caught Carter without any difficulty. He couldn’t believe that, after Vanthiku had spoken so much about wanting ‘entertainment,’ it was all going to be so easy. And, much as he figured the thought was a jinx in and of itself, he felt like he’d be relieved to learn that there was something else up ahead.

And yet, they made it across the bridge with no further difficulty. Now, though, there was another issue. “So, where do we go from here?” Ryan asked once they were back on solid ground. 

Carter wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to just admit that. There had to be something that could give them a clue. Then he spotted another passage. “There we go.” They followed the path again, taking another unbearably long time. 

“Aren’t we supposed to be entertainment for Vanthiku?” Ryan finally asked, apparently growing as tired of the wandering as Carter, if he was now questioning what Vanthiku was doing instead of giving Carter an earful about how he shouldn’t have made a deal with a demon. 

Carter couldn’t argue with Ryan’s question, either. For an entity who’d claimed to desire entertainment, Vanthiku sure had seemed reluctant to put them in situations that the demon could be entertained by. Unless he had a secret passion for watching paint dry and grass grow.

They kept moving until the passage opened up again, facing yet another river. At least this one was calm, however.

“So are we going to have to swim across this?” Ryan asked. Before Carter could answer, he heard something. Movement on the water. Looking down at the water, he could see ripples reaching the bank of the river they were standing by. He motioned for Ryan to look to where the sound was coming from.

It was an old style wooden boat with a long front end with a stylized demonic form on it, a humanoid shape with a demonic head, that was approaching them. But it was not the boat that drew their attention. It was the ferryman steering it.

Olympius.

Both of the Rangers dropped into combat stances, ready for a fight. As Olympius drew near, they could hear him growling, though it seemed more of a frustrated sound, rather than him being poised for attack.

“Power Rangers. As if this were not indignity enough.”

“Olympius,” Carter got out. Diabolico got Ryan’s hackles up, while Olympius did the same for Carter. “What’s going on here?”

“As part of my damnation to these wastelands, to this realm, Vanthiku has tasked me with the role of ferryman for the river Acheron.” 

Carter almost remarked about how Charon must be getting vacation time. “I thought Vanthiku set this up as... entertainment.” Although it had been as much his idea as Vanthiku’s, Carter drew the word out, a rare admission of his feeling of derision towards the very concept of letting himself and Ryan be the demon’s playthings.

“He rules the demonic underworld, Ranger. Do you think reshaping it to suit his whims is beyond him?” Olympius sneered. Carter couldn’t argue with that.

There was a long moment where neither Ranger nor demon made a move to further things. They simply glared at each other from either side of the boat. Neither side moved or attempted to make any moves, certain the other would make a move and attack. 

“Enough of this.” The spectral image of Diabolico appeared beside Olympius, earning the ire of the red demon. Carter could almost hear Ryan tensing at Diabolico’s reappearance, but he stayed quiet. He wished he could do or say something that could relax him, but they couldn’t even look at each other. Although Carter had suggested it, he was starting to chafe under the restriction. He hadn’t realized how much Vanthiku would stack the deck, though, in retrospect, he should have expected it. He’d just been focused on saving Ryan.

Regardless, Diabolico was still there, apparently still acting as Vanthiku’s messenger. “Vanthiku has ordered our fallen prince to escort you across the river Acheron,” he explained. He gave Olympius a warning glare. “ANY attempt on his part to upset the deal between yourselves and Vanthiku will be construed as unwelcome interference.” Olympius fumed under Diabolico’s gaze, but said nothing. Then Diabolico turned back to Carter and Ryan. “However, I would advise against intentionally antagonizing him.” He glanced back to Olympius with what was something approaching perverse glee. Then he faded away again.

With a low growl, Olympus looked back to the Rangers. “Fine. Get in.” He was not pleased about his assignment, but would follow it. Carter almost glanced to Ryan to ask him if he was okay with this, then remembered the deal with Vanthiku. 

Then he felt Ryan’s hand on his shoulder. Carter automatically closed his eyes, feeling an urge to turn to him. It didn’t help that their Ranger uniforms might protect them from damage, but when it came to more positive touch, like the touch of a companion, there was almost a sensation of barely wearing anything. Probably to offset pain and encourage healing, said an analytical part of his mind, trying to keep him grounded and focused on the moment, rather than the fact that Ryan’s hand was on his shoulder, feeling almost like an intimate gesture. Given Carter’s realization of his feelings for Ryan, that didn’t exactly make the desire to turn to him lessen at all.

“Come on, Carter. We’ve started this. We need to finish it, don’t we?” Ryan stated. Carter nodded. He wanted to take Ryan’s hand, at least take that little bit of comfort, but he kept himself back, recognizing that anything, any attempt to act on his now-conscious feelings for Ryan would only make him more likely to look at him. 

They took positions behind Olympius in the boat. Olympius turned it, setting them off for the other side of the river. There was a tense silence in the boat as it began its steady cross. The only sound was the sloshing of the water as Olympius’s oar moved through it. 

Then, abruptly, Olympius spoke. “You consider this amusing, don’t you, Rangers? Seeing me brought so low, serving another master.” It seemed the fallen prince was holding a grudge.

Carter wanted to respond. A part of him even wanted to rub Olympius’s face in the fact that he was now in this position. There was a rather delicious irony in seeing Olympius here, serving Vanthiku. But he didn’t trust that either of them would be able to keep from sniping at each other to the point of starting something. And there was very little leverage for a fight here on the boat. So he kept his mouth shut.

In reaction to Carter’s silence, Olympius just snarled. The demon kept up his slow and steady paddle across the river.

There was an unpleasant and uncomfortable silence in the boat as it moved across the river. The three remained silent for several long minutes, and then finally Ryan asked the question that both Rangers were thinking.

“Are we actually going anywhere?”

“You will have crossed this river when Vanthiku deems it, Ranger. Until then, we may well wander this forsaken path for eternity,” Olympius spat out.

That put things in a new perspective. “What does he want from us, then?” Carter demanded.

“What he has sought from the beginning. For you to entertain him. Anything more specific... Why don’t you go back and ask him?” Olympius sounded perfectly willing to help speed them on their way back to Vanthiku. Carter wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

He wanted to look at Ryan, confer with him privately, but that wasn’t really an option. 

Then Ryan placed a hand on Carter’s shoulder. Under the circumstances, Carter gave in to that urge had been fighting to take his hand. He needed that little gesture to feel like there was a light at the end of this. When they made it out of here – he couldn’t let himself think of it as an ‘if’ – he was going to tell Ryan how he felt. That would be his motivation.

In that moment, Olympius abruptly swung the boat around. Carter could see him shifting his weight to one side, apparently trying to capsize the boat. “What are you doing?!” Carter demanded. Another shake of the boat threw him back, awkwardly landing him in Ryan’s lap. Carter immediately slammed his eyes shut, trying to make sure he didn’t see Ryan. At another time, he could appreciate his situation – right now, it was a liability. They were in trouble.

Olympius turned and snarled at the Rangers. There was a violent quirk to his lips. “Whatever fate awaits me will be worth it, so long as I take you there with me, Rangers. You’re responsible for all of this, of my being here, of the defeat of my mother, and so long as I can drag you into hell with me, I will take great pleasure in it, regardless of Vanthiku’s wishes! If we’re to be damned, we shall all be damned together!” With that, Olympius raised a foot and slammed it into the boat’s floor. Water began to pour into the boat. “Shall we take a dip into the river of pain together, Rangers?” he chuckled. 

His laughter, though, quickly turned to a sudden shout of surprise. The water did not begin to flood the boat, causing it to sink. Instead, the water was holding steady by Olympius, and rising up, engulfing him.

As Carter and Ryan stared in uncertainty of what would come next, a spectral image appeared beside Olympius, but it was not Diabolico. 

It was Vanthiku.

Despite his face, if he had one, being disguised by the inky blackness of his cowl, Vanthiku looked to be redefining anger. “You were warned, Olympius. No interference would be allowed in this challenge. Unlike your traitorous witch of a mother, I adhere to my bargains. I have honor and integrity. I will not indulge your selfish immaturity.” 

When the king of the local hell dimension was a better person than you, you really had issues.

Vanthiku wasn’t finished yet, though. “You knew that there would be consequences for your actions if you disobeyed my directives. Your mother indulged your behavior, and she was defeated by these Power Rangers. I have suffered your impetuous and selfish attitude long enough.” The water had risen up and over Olympius, leaving only his head exposed. He opened his mouth to speak – perhaps to make an excuse or a demand – but before a word came out, the water poured down his throat, silencing him. There almost looked to be a note of panic in his eyes “You will be punished for this, Olympius. And I will be very creative in how.” With that, Vanthiku turned his back on Olympius, who vanished, pulled down by the water that had engulfed him.

His gaze, such as it was, was now on the two Rangers. He extended the withered and gnarled claws that were his hands towards them. “As amends for Olympius’s impudence, I offer this to you. The demand of you not laying eyes upon your... friend is lifted. Come.”

Carter wasn’t sure if he should accept this blindly at first. However, he had just heard Vanthiku berating Olympius for a lack of honor and condemning Bansheera. Sure, demons could be hypocritical, but Vanthiku had just insisted that there was an insistence on integrity here. If he was lying, that’d be a level of hypocrisy that, while he wouldn’t put it past a demon being okay about it, Vanthiku had so far been true to his word. He reached out and took Vanthiku’s hand and looked to Ryan. 

He wasn’t instantly dragged back to hell, so that seemed like a good start.

Seeing that Carter was still there, Ryan seemed relieved and took Vanthiku’s hand as well. Neither of them felt particularly comfortable or secure in the act, but at least it didn’t kill them outright, so that was something. 

As Vanthiku stood there, the air seemed to ripple, and suddenly, Carter found himself and Ryan on the other side of the river. Vanthiku released their hands and crossed them over the hilt of his sword (where had that come from?), once more held before him and pointed downwards. At least it wasn’t pointed at them, Carter supposed. “You are not, however, free from my realm yet, Power Rangers.” There was the other shoe. “There is one more river for you to cross.” 

“Haven’t we done enough?” Ryan asked. 

“I seek entertainment, Power Rangers. There is no pleasure to be gained from you being simply given things. I have given you a concession because of Olympius disobeying a simple order, of his interference in our bargain. And he shall face punishment for that. Beyond that, you are intruders in my realm. That I am giving you this chance is an opportunity I would offer to few others.” Vanthiku’s eyes, if there were a face under the cowl, were not visible, yet the demon lord seemed to direct his gaze directly upon Ryan, and Ryan actually blinked, backing down. “Perhaps you believe I have been lacking in hospitality to those who barged into my realm unbidden? I can find new ways to be entertained, though I do not believe you would consider them as such.”

Carter jumped in at that, subtly trying to get Ryan to back down. “No, Vanthiku. You’ve been... very agreeable in giving us this opportunity. Thank you.”

There was a beat of silence as Vanthiku considered them once more. “You have one last river to cross, Rangers. The river Styx, the last boundary between my realm and yours. Save yourselves a penny for the ferryman.” With that, Vanthiku was gone once more.

Carter had a reflexive thought about how he was pretty sure that Charon only ferried the dead across one river, but even if Vanthiku had remained, it probably wasn’t the best of times or locations to get into the finer details of Greek mythology. Instead, he simply removed his helmet, wanting to take the opportunity they had at the moment to breathe. 

“We’ve come this far,” he said to Ryan as he sat down on a small rock formation. “Seems a good sign. And Vanthiku says we have just the one last obstacle.”

Seeing Carter had removed his helmet, Ryan did the same, though he seemed more fidgety than Carter. “That last obstacle will probably be the worst of them.”

“Ever the optimist.” Carter took a moment to look at Ryan, look at the man he loved. Ryan had had his helmet on when Vanthiku had brought him out of wherever he’d been held, which had meant that he hadn’t had a chance to see how he’d been roughed up by the demons. There were signs of half-healed cuts on his face, as well as a couple of welts that were still bruised. It didn’t seem to hurt him, though, which told Carter a lot of unpleasant things about his life with Diabolico that he hadn’t been particularly eager to learn. 

Ryan looked to him, seeming to recognize that Carter was staring. “What is it?”

“Just... making sure you’re alright. Vanthiku had you captive for days. And I haven’t seen your face until now.” He smiled at Ryan, trying to put him at ease. Or maybe trying to put himself at ease. 

That did make Ryan stop, even smile a little. “I guess I never did thank you for this. I know I was ungrateful at first, but... You came for me.”

“Of course I did, Ryan.” Carter couldn’t believe Ryan could have ever doubted that. 

And Ryan seemed to recognize his incredulity at the thought. “It’s hard sometimes to remember that I’m not with Diabolico and his demons anymore. The demons would have seen coming after me as a waste. I was a human, disposable. Even with Diabolico’s plans for me, he’d probably have just made new ones instead of trying to rescue me from another demon lord. You’d think I’d have learned better over the last two years.”

“It was how you were raised. I can understand why you’d still think that way.” And it was a reminder that, even though Diabolico had turned on Bansheera, he was still a bastard who’d deserved what he’d gotten. 

“You’d think I’d know better by now. You’ve taught me a lot about being human. I mean, you and the others. The whole point of Lightspeed Rescue is to save lives. To protect the people who can’t protect themselves. It wasn’t something I thought made sense at first, but you showed me why it mattered, why it was important.” 

Carter tried to keep his heart from going wild at that. He knew he shouldn’t make much of the comment, that Ryan had spoken about all of the Rangers, not just him. But it was still telling Carter about the effect he’d had on the other man. He managed to pull together a smile for Ryan. “All of that was already in you, Ryan. Diabolico couldn’t touch who you are at heart.”

Though he smiled, Ryan seemed to not want to meet Carter’s gaze for a moment. Then he took a breath and looked around at the river bank they were on. “We should move. Vanthiku said there was still one more river.”

Nodding, Carter rose and started moving. “I don’t suppose we should expect this one to be smooth sailing?”

“That’s probably a little too hopeful,” Ryan nodded, though Carter could hear a smile in his voice, even as he put his helmet back on.


	6. Chapter 6

They were more relaxed as they made to move through the caverns of the underworld. Carter allowed himself to glance towards Ryan every few steps. Now that he could watch him, he was taking advantage of the opportunity. He could watch him, watch out for him. It was the kind of thing that, he was realizing, he had done before during their fights against Diabolico and Bansheera’s demons, but he’d always chalked it up to simply being the leader, trying to monitor the battlefield and keep track of everyone who was under his protection, which included his friends and teammates. But his gaze always would track over to Ryan and make sure he was holding his own, going to his aid if he seemed to be struggling. Now that he knew what he’d been doing, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognized his feelings sooner. 

He wanted to simply tell Ryan here and now, make him know that he loved the other man, but he wasn’t sure about how Ryan would react. While it was likely he had no particular issue with the idea of two men being together, Carter had no idea how he’d feel about either of them being one of the men involved in that. Who knew how the demons who’d raised him felt about sexuality, or if they even did so. It could be that Carter telling him that he was in love with him would require further explanation, though he doubted that fully, given that Dana had spoken occasionally about her mother, who’d died at some point before Captain Mitchell’s deal with Diabolico, so Ryan should have some vague memories of the idea of humans pairing up with one another, even if he had little practical experience...

He shook his head. He was overthinking things. Either Ryan felt the same or he didn’t, but this was a bad time to be discussing anything of the sort. There was still Vanthiku’s last river to get across. If there was any kind of issue to be had with regards to Carter’s feelings, they didn’t need it clouding things while they were trying to cross. 

“When we get out of here,” Carter started, deciding to break up the monotony of the stone walls that surrounded them with some conversation, “I think I’m going to go on a road trip. If nothing else, the open air will be a nice change to these stone walls.”

“Sounds good.” Ryan didn’t seem to need the conversation quite as much as Carter did. Not really a surprise there, since the demons had probably punished talking out of turn.

It did nothing for Carter’s need for something to lighten the mood some. He supposed if you were the lord of the dead like Vanthiku, you probably would like dark and dreary and depressing, but it certainly didn’t encourage upbeat attitudes and sparkling conversation.

“You should come with me,” he suggested. “I mean, little point in seeing the sights of the world if you’re just seeing them alone, right?” And, if nothing else, some quality time confined in a car would give them time to talk about things beyond being Power Rangers.

But it seemed Ryan wasn’t so sure, based on his hesitation. Before he could say something, though, he spotted something and pointed. “Carter.” Carter turned to look. It was a passageway through the caverns. “That must be the way to the last river.” 

“Good. Last river, and we’re out of here.” They hurried forward to find that, through the passage, it did indeed lead to a river.

Unlike the previous ones, there was a large, sturdy, stone bridge that crossed the gap. And, right at the point that the bridge curved across the river to the other side, there was a giant stone throne, a figure sitting upon it. Yet another familiar figure.

Carter supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to see Vypra again.

As they approached her, she grinned. “Rangers. This is quite the pleasure.”

“Vypra. What’s the challenge here?” Lethe was the river of forgetfulness, Acheron the river of pain. Vanthiku had said this would be the river Styx. He wasn’t entirely sure of his ancient mythology, but he didn’t think this was entirely the way that the legend of Orpheus had played out. Then again, he and Ryan had been granted the ability to look at each other without being dragged back into hell, so he figured that they weren’t in a direct one-to-one reworking of the tale anyway. Vanthiku could probably pick and choose and mix and match as he felt he needed to get the entertainment he wanted.

In answer to his question, Vypra gave a smug smile and rested her head on a hand as she leaned forward. “This, Power Rangers, is the river of judgment. And I am here to judge you.”

Well. That was peachy.

“You’re going to judge US?” Carter demanded. “That’s rich.”

“I am, of course, offering you the opportunity to defend yourselves. There’s no judgment in a summary execution.”

“Gee, thanks...” Carter said, rolling his eyes. Because a promise not to immediately kill them was so very appreciated. Especially coming from someone like Vypra.

She chuckled slightly. There was an ease and confidence to her that Carter had never seen with her, had never associated with her. She’d gained power, at least over the two of them, and she was fully aware of it. “You can remove your helmets and get comfortable, Rangers. There will be no fighting here. By the order of Vanthiku, there is no combat to come. If you are found guilty, you will be removed as swiftly as you arrived in Vanthiku’s realm.”

Ryan didn’t seem particularly likely to get comfortable, but Carter thought it might be wise to go along with her command. The last thing they should look to do, he figured, was to intentionally antagonize their judge. After he took his helmet off, Ryan seemed willing to go along with it and did the same.

She leaned back in her throne. “We shall begin with the obvious. You are charged with regicide, with the attempt to murder our beloved Queen Bansheera. How do you plead?”

“This is ridiculous. We-” Carter grabbed Ryan’s shoulder as he attempted to shove past the stone throne. Ryan looked to him and Carter shook his head.

“We need to play along,” he said softly. “Vanthiku’s given us some leeway, but he’s not likely to let us just charge forward however we please.”

Though he’d kept it quiet, it seemed that Vypra had heard them. “You’re not wrong about that, Red Ranger. Vanthiku has imposed a series of rules and restrictions for me to adhere to. Unlike Olympius, I have no intention of violating them.” She smiled again. “However, that does not mean I have to share these restrictions with you.” She chuckled slightly to herself. “Now. How do you plead to the charges?”

Carter gave Ryan a ‘let me handle this’ look. Ryan didn’t seem happy, but he stood back, allowing Carter to do what he thought he needed to. “We plead not guilty. Our fight with Bansheera was in self-defense. She threatened us first, attacked with deadly force. What we did was purely to defend ourselves and people who weren’t capable of fighting back themselves. And even then, we didn’t strike the killing blow. The last I saw her, she was still alive, among her own kind.” Based on what he’d seen as the coffin had closed, he doubted Bansheera had lasted very long at the tender mercies of the demons below, but still, it hadn’t been the Power Rangers who had slain her.

Vypra considered his statement for a moment, then, to Carter’s surprise, nodded. “This court will accept this claim. Queen Bansheera’s own list of crimes were read upon her arrival in this realm.” She gave a self-satisfied smirk. “There was quite a bit of bloodshed in the underworld after that sentencing.” Carter got the feeling she’d been called as a character witness against Bansheera. He couldn’t particularly argue with her standing against Bansheera. “We shall move on to the next charge. Theft. You stand as representatives of humanity, those who stole our ancestral land and imprisoned us, building your city upon the ruins of our dark and terrible civilization. How do you plead?”

This was trickier. She had a point. Mariner Bay had once been demon lands. That had been the point of the demons attempting to take control of it. Humans had built their city on the bones of the demons’ home. 

Though... He thought about it, and came up with an idea. “Whatever crimes inflicted on demons by humans were performed by humans who lived and died thousands of years ago. Demons might live for thousands of years, but not humans.”

“Irrelevant to humanity’s crimes. You bear responsibility for the sins of your ancestors.”

“And what sins have demons inflicted on humans?” Ryan demanded, suddenly interjecting. “You know as well as I that the demons treated the humans they encountered like dirt. Humans overthrew the demons who were conquerors. Fighting back isn’t a crime. You just absolved us of the charge of trying to kill Bansheera because it was self-defense. How is this any different?”

Carter couldn’t argue his point, but he had his own to offer. “Regardless, no matter how long demons live and can hold a grudge, you can’t expect that humans in modern times should bear the burden of crimes older than the civilizations we have built. The people who took your lands from you are not just dead and gone, their bones are nothing but dust by now. Whatever grievances you bear against humanity’s ancestors, there is no measure of enacting that revenge.”

“The court already dismissed that claim, Ranger. Don’t waste our time rehashing failed arguments.” Vypra seemed amused that Carter had brought up the same argument again, as if it merely proved her point.

But Carter shook his head. “It’s not a failed argument. You’ve already acknowledged the fate of those who put their revenge above all else. Olympius is facing punishment from Vanthiku for it right now. You spoke of Bansheera suffering for her putting reclaiming Mariner Bay above all else. You paid that price yourself, Vypra. You came back to our world for revenge, and where did it get you but right back here? Revenge is a fool’s game. What happened five thousand years ago was that you demons were defeated. And when you tried to retake your lands, you were defeated again. That’s not a crime on our part.” He paused for effect. “That’s weakness on yours.”

Vypra was quiet for a long moment. By the way her eyes glanced back and forth, it was almost as if she was silently conversing with unseen entities. Perhaps she was – Carter had no idea how this judgment worked, if Vanthiku was taking an active hand or if something else was at play that were beyond him. The fact was that there wasn’t much in what made rational sense that applied to his life as a Power Ranger – demons, giant robots, magic rituals, and everything associated with them all were not the kind of thing that seemed rational on the face of them.

A dark look crossed Vypra’s face. Carter wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. She nodded. “It is the judgment of this court that, while the precedent of the charge against Queen Bansheera is not enough to absolve humanity’s crime in this instance... The defeat of Queen Bansheera negates the claim upon the land of Mariner Bay, that she and her own weakness lost these ancestral lands, rather than the sins of humanity, and you will be allowed to go free on that charge.” She smirked. “For the time being.”

Carter and Ryan shared a look at that – that sounded like it’d be trouble for them one day. If not in their lifetime, in the future, since they’d just proven that demons had long memories and were very petty.

“There is one last charge remaining against you both.” She paused, allowing the tension to build. “Dishonesty and disloyalty. To each other.”

That brought Carter and Ryan both up short, not knowing what she meant. They looked to each other in confusion. Neither of them had an answer for that claim.

Vypra seemed to see and enjoy the confusion on their faces. “I’m sure you can think of something that you have been dishonest about towards one another.” Her words sent an unexpected chill down Carter’s spine – he realized what she meant. He hadn’t outright lied to Ryan about why he’d come to find him, but he’d also not told him everything. He hadn’t told him the revelation he’d had about his feelings. That couldn’t be what Vypra meant... But what else was there?

As he sped through his memories of what had happened since they’d come here, he remembered Vanthiku allowing them to take this challenge after pleading for the demon to not hurt Ryan. Not to hurt the man he loved. Carter realized that Vanthiku had known how he felt about Ryan right from the start. 

Carter wanted to think of Vanthiku as scum, for forcing something that he had no business getting involved in. But it wasn’t like this was some earth-shattering revelation that Carter was keeping hidden. This was how Carter felt about Ryan, the feelings he’d kept to himself, and, truthfully, from himself. 

“You’re right.” The words were unexpected, as they came from Ryan, not Carter. Carter looked to him in surprise. “I have been dishonest about how I feel.” He took a deep breath. “I had sworn never to tell you, but... I’ve always felt something towards you, and... I love you, Carter.”

It took Carter a moment to process that. He’d missed any hints or indications that Ryan was having the same conflict he was. That changed a lot.

It also made his admission of ‘dishonesty’ easier. “I... Ryan, I feel the same. I didn’t want to tell you this here, in a demon realm, but... I love you too.” It took a moment for Carter’s words to seem to reach to Ryan. He looked to Carter in surprise and disbelief, an expression that didn’t change even as the words sunk in.

The look on Ryan’s face actually concerned Carter. He looked not relieved that Carter had admitted the same to him, but... some combination of worried and hurt, as if he hadn’t wanted to hear him say as much. Carter couldn’t make sense of it

“I should have known,” came Vypra’s scathing response, cutting through Carter’s thoughts and drawing him back to the situation. “You Power Rangers are full of nothing but such sweet secrets.” She shook her head, looking disgusted at the statements from the Rangers. 

“So you judge us to be honest?” Carter practically spat, every word dripping in sarcasm. At this point, he’d had enough of this realm. He wanted desperately to get back to Mariner Bay. At the very least, it was clear that he and Ryan had to have a conversation, and he had no intention of having it in the middle of a demon’s realm.

Vypra’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Carter thought she’d attack them. But she leaned back in her throne. “I will abide by Vanthiku’s rules. You have been judged... as worthy to cross.” That seemed to be a cue for the two of them to get moving. They ran forward to cross the bridge, holding their helmets, not bothering to put them back on. The sound of the stone of the throne scraping against the bridge, however, stopped them in their tracks. “Rangers,” Vypra called. “You would be foolish to believe this to be our last meeting. I left this realm once. Doing so again may be difficult, but not impossible.”

Carter and Ryan shared a look, concerned about that thought – it took twelve Rangers, five of them using upgraded forms, to defeat Vypra and her forces this last time. And the impression he’d gotten from the Time Force Rangers was that they were not planning on sticking around beyond their focus on Ransik and his forces. Ryan glared at her. “Why warn us, then?”

She smiled. “Vanthiku has his entertainment. I have mine.” And, with that, she and the throne vanished. Behind the Rangers, a portal shimmered into existence, revealing the ruins that they’d performed their ritual, the one that had brought them here in the first place. 

And, beside it, was Vanthiku.

“Perhaps not the entertainment that I had in mind, but it will do. You have offered me more of a show than any of the denizens of my realm has in some time. You have earned your reward.”

“All of this... what, because you were trying to get to hear us say we love each other?” Carter asked. That seemed ridiculous on the face of it, but here he was.

Vanthiku tilted his head slightly, a gesture that gave Carter the impression that it was his version of a shrug. “As I said from the start, Ranger. ‘Entertainment’ in my realm consists of combat and bloodshed. Love... That is something new to this place.” He motioned to the portal. “Go. And remember, my realm is not for humans. Any who breach the barrier from this day further will not be permitted the luxury of an escape. You would be wise to not return.”

That was a dismissal if Carter had ever heard one. He and Ryan wasted no time going through the portal, which closed behind them.

Almost as soon as they were through, their commlink to Lightspeed crackled to life. “ _Carter? Ryan?! Please, tell me that’s your signal!_ ” Dana’s voice was a welcome sound. 

“It’s us, Dana. Both of us,” Carter reported. He looked to Ryan, flashing him a smile. Ryan returned it, but it didn’t reach his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

They had to endure a barrage of questions from Dana and Captain Mitchell, as well as Kelsey and Chad, who’d come to Lightspeed not long after Carter had entered the portal and stood watch at the controls with her, waiting for Carter’s signal. They even heard from Joel and Miss Fairweather, who’d finally started their honeymoon when they’d learned of Ryan and Carter’s disappearance, and they could go back to enjoying it. Carter had a feeling that he and Ryan would still owe Joel for quite a while on this score anyway, given the colorful tirade he went on about them getting themselves into trouble while he was trying to spend quality time with his wife. Wisely, Carter had refrained from pointing out that the wedding hadn’t actually managed to go off with minimal disruption, as the Rangers hadn’t had to run out until (barely) after the ‘I do’s’ and the reception had been lovely, and on Mariner Bay’s dime, no less.

Finally, though, they got through the concerned questions from their friends and they were able to get out of the desert ruins. It was, by now, daylight once more, and Carter figured that they both could do with a night’s sleep in something more comfortable than a sleeping bag. Using his Trans-Armor Cycle to make their way to the nearest point of civilization, where they could find a hotel, seemed only reasonable. 

The trip there was silent between the two of them, neither knowing what really to say – while they’d admitted to loving each other, that wasn’t the end of things. There was still a weight, the question of what they were going to do. Carter was fully aware that Lightspeed currently fell under the oversight of the United States military, and they would have to contend with an eventual someone in a position of authority taking umbrage at the idea of the planet’s defenders holding ‘homosexuals’ in their midst (Carter doubted he should bring up the fact that he identified as bisexual when that conversation happened). And, of course, there was the mystery of why Ryan had closed off when he’d said that he’d returned the feelings.

They found a hotel and booked a room, billing it to the US military (the advantage, Carter supposed, of Lightspeed still having a large discretionary fund on hand). He made shut that the door shut and the lock was flipped behind him before he looked to Ryan.

He wanted to pull Ryan close, knowing that they both felt the same about each other. He held back because while that was what he wanted, and knew that Ryan did too, there was still a lot to get through before he felt comfortable doing so. 

“I think we should talk. Before we... before we do anything else.”

Ryan nodded solemnly. “That’s... that’s probably a good idea.” Carter realized that he’d had a better sense of Ryan’s moods and emotions when he was morphed than he did outside of their Ranger uniforms. When he was morphed, it seemed to let Ryan be able to let down his walls. Now he was closed off, not letting anything through.

Carter moved to the closer bed in the room, taking a seat on the edge. Ryan looked almost like a cornered animal, afraid to make a move. Carter wasn’t sure what the reason was for his behavior and attitude, but it concerned him all the same.

“Ryan... What’s wrong? Why is it that hearing me tell you that I love you too... just made you seem to be afraid?”

As Carter looked directly at him, Ryan tore his gaze away. “This... Carter, you can’t possibly feel the same way.”

“Why not, Ryan? You’ve proved, time and again, that you’re a good person. That you want to protect people. What could possibly be wrong with me being in love with you?”

Ryan shook his head. “I... I was raised by demons. I understood everything about what Vanthiku wanted. He was going to have me tortured, tormented, and eventually torn to pieces... and I understood it all. I even... I even would have accepted it.”

He spoke the words as if Carter should understand the meaning. But they only made him more confused. “And? Ryan, you’re not a demon!”

“I was raised as one. I was told that I would be the key to Diabolico and Bansheera’s conquering of humanity. I was going to be their ‘bridge,’ proof that humans could only be equal to demons if we went through the same kind of training and teachings they did. To basically accept that demons were superior. They raised me as a weapon, and...”

“And what, Ryan? You were taken by Diabolico and he tried to forge you into a weapon. You don’t have to be what Diabolico tried to make you. You stopped being that when you saved your father. You fought against Diabolico and Bansheera. You helped save Mariner Bay!” Ryan was a hero several times over, not some pawn of the demons. Carter couldn’t imagine how he felt he still carried that burden after all he’d done. Couldn’t he see it?

The other man shook his head. “How can that be enough? Carter-”

“No. Listen to me.” Carter rose and put his hands on Ryan’s shoulder. “The worst you ever did yourself was attacking us. And we all long forgave you for that. You are a Power Ranger. And everything you’ve done is part of that. You’re human. You’re not a demon. Diabolico lied to you for all those years. If anything, you are proof that humanity survives. You chose to abandon Diabolico’s lies and join us in fighting against him. You beat his snake tattoo. You were part of the fight against them, by your own choice. You’re no demon. You are human. You’re a Power Ranger.” He moved his hands slightly, so that he could gently rub his thumbs over Ryan’s cheekbones. “You’re the man I love.”

And, to not give him an opportunity to offer another argument, Carter leaned in, catching Ryan’s lips in a kiss. He tried to pour all of his feelings, his belief in Ryan’s humanity, his love for the other man into that kiss, to let him know that he had no doubt that Ryan was good, that he was worthy of being loved.

When he pulled back, Ryan’s eyes were closed, and he seemed momentarily lost. Carter felt like that was something of a success. 

“Do you believe me now?” he asked softly.

It took a moment for Ryan to respond. “I... might be starting to.”

Carter would take that. For now, at least. He smiled. “I’ll keep kissing you if that’ll help any.”

With a chuckle and a smile, Ryan nodded. “I doubt it’ll hurt.

And so Carter did just that.


End file.
